Oxidizing agents have been added to produce (fresh fruits and vegetables) for a variety of purposes. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,880, hydrogen peroxide is added to a vegetable pulp to bleach it. Also, hydrogen peroxide has been used to decolorize and sterilize natural spices as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,813. The spices are significantly pretreated prior to the addition of an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide.
Also in a paper entitled Preservation of Intermediate Vegetable Products by Using Hydrogen Peroxide by L. I. Marchuk and S. M. Galkina (Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of the Canning Industry), vegetables are peeled, washed, cut in halves or quarters and blanched with water. They are then minced on a chopper with steam heating to yield a product with a paste-like consistency followed by the addition of hydrogen peroxide. The article states that these intermediate vegetable products can be stored and canned.
In another article, entitled Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment on Fresh-Cut Fruits and Vegetables by G. M. Sapers, R. L. Miller and G. Simmons (IFT Annual Meeting: Book of Abstracts, 1995), a method is disclosed in which fruit and vegetables were exposed to hydrogen peroxide by the unpressurized injection of a vapor into a treatment chamber or immersion in 5 or 10% hydrogen peroxide solution.times.0.5-2 minutes.
There is a need for sterilize produce to microbial levels below that which can be achieved by the foregoing methods.